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 Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 2:58 pm
Jianyu let out a derisive snort as he dragged Kiran along beside him, his grip like iron as he moved his hand up to encircle the boy's upper arm. He towed him along like a disobedient child, ignoring the questioning glances at those around them.
"Do not give me that 'innocent' look." he said. "I have been training for as long as I can remember, and I know a thief when I see one. Do not take me so lightly."
Main Street was still quite crowded for the time of day. People bustled around the unlikely pair, going from place to place, and Jianyu had to weave carefully through the throngs of people. He was quite irritated with Kiran for thinking him not intelligent enough to catch him in the act, so his annoyance was driving him to where he was taking the boy.
When he reached their destination, Jianyu all but hauled Kiran up the stairs of the Qian Tattoo Parlor, pulling him into the half-empty waiting room. He shook his head at the surprised expression on his sister Chuntao's face and instead pushed Kiran into one of the private rooms, shutting the door behind him. Then he turned around, folding his arms across his chest as he glowered at the young boy. Reaching around him, he grabbed a dirty rag and thrust it at him.
"You will wash this entire room spotless." Jianyu said darkly. "Once you have finished, you will move onto the next one. Am I clear?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 6:29 pm
Kiran sighed inwardly, wondering why he would even expect Jianyu to fall for the innocent act. Clearly, Jianyu was wiser than most of the people who he normally scammed. They generally believed him when he pretended to be innocent, until his mother found out about the whole thing and forced him to return all the money he earned through the scam. Kiran had been so focus on working the perfect scam that he didn't think to factor in that Jianyu might not be as gullible as the others. He would have to remember to pick his victims better in the future. Jianyu was definitely getting struck off his list of people to scam. Kiran could tell the man would be wary of any future tricks he might try, and he doubted he could outsmart someone like Jianyu.
As much as he liked getting attention, Kiran didn't like people watching him get dragged all over by Jianyu. He gritted his teeth and kept his focus on the ground, not wanting to even look up and see the people staring at the pair and, no doubt, murmuring amongst each other about what they thought was going on. What had seemed like a perfect good, though boring to start, day was turning worse by the minute.
When they neared wherever Jianyu was dragging him, Kiran glanced up barely in time to catch a glance at the sign on the building, identifying just where they had arrived. He gulped at one word in particular: tattoo. What exactly was this man planning anyway? Kiran shuddered to think as he was dragged through the waiting room. What? Did Jianyu plan to force a tattoo on him? Something like 'Jianyu's b***h' across his forehead before forcing some other punishment onto him? A tattoo would be bad enough, especially in a visible, hard to conceal spot. His mother would throw a fit at that!
Kiran was partly relieved when Jianyu merely shoved a dirty rag in his face and told him to clean. He lifted one brow at him. "You want me to clean?" Kiran wasn't exactly known for being a clean freak. He kept his room modestly cleaned, only enough to keep his mother from yelling at him for living in a pigsty. But beyond that, he didn't much care about keeping his room spotlessly clean. He frowned at Jianyu and almost hated to find out the answer to his next question. "And just how many rooms do you expect me to clean?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 11:49 pm
If there was one thing that Jianyu did not appreciate, it was being taken for a fool. And that was exactly what this Kiran Tambe had attempted to do; play him like a fool while he tried to steal his coin purse. Moreover, Jianyu felt slightly embarrassed by the fact that he had not found things suspicious earlier, but he quickly brushed aside those feelings. Regret was not something he liked to make a habit of feeling. Instead, he kept his gaze focused on the obstinate man standing in front of him, a defiant look in those eyes.
"Yes, I want you to clean." he said, in answer to Kiran's question. "You will wipe down every surface, every shelf, every cabinet, every dark corner until it is spotless. You will wash, sterilize, and put away all of the instruments you see here, and you will do so in a respectful and timely manner."
Jianyu turned around to leave, but stopped when he heard Kiran's next question. Turning around, Jianyu raised one dark eyebrow.
"As many as it takes." he said before swiftly exiting the room, shutting the door behind him.
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Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:11 am
He knew he would regret asking that question. His eye twitched, and his face turned red with growing rage. Then he threw the dirty rag at the door after Jianyu had exited the room. Kiran expected punishment from his mother, after a long, boring lecture about the inappropriateness of scamming money out of people. And he would do them grudgingly after a verbal spat.
The answer Jianyu gave him hadn't been entirely helpful though. As many as it take for what exactly? Kiran doubted he would like that answer anymore and bit back the urge to shout at Jianyu.
Turning around, he glanced about the room. He cringed. He had to clean all of this? And there were more rooms after this? Kiran bet they were all in this state, or worse. Grumbling to himself, he snatched up the dirty rag. He probably couldn't talk his way out of this. Jianyu certainly didn't look like he'd be willing to listen to another word that came from Kiran's mouth.
It can't be any worse than cleaning up Aditi's cage, he thought as he sighed. He could hope at least. Getting down on his hands and knees, he started scrubbing the floor.
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Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 1:33 pm
Jianyu leaned back against the door to the room he had just left, his head resting against the smooth mahogany wood. He waited a few moments before hearing the sounds of muffled, angry mumbling and then a soft thumping, like he had dropped down to the floor.
Jianyu closed his eyes briefly. It irritated him that he had not noticed Kiran's intentions earlier, that he had not expected something of this. He did not appreciate being treated as a pawn in the younger boy's game, although he supposed that giving him a straight answer to his question might have been more polite (though he did not feel that any of Kiran's actions even merited being polite).
Vaguely Jianyu wondered whether or not Kiran might try and escape. There were no windows in the back tattoo rooms (mainly to keep the privacy for the customers), but he could attempt to leave through the door itself. Would he think Jianyu might try and stop him?
Moving aside, Jianyu walked away from the door, giving his sister a brief nod as he left the entrance hall to the tattoo hall. He would leave Kiran to his work and come back and check on him in a little bit.
Perhaps the boy would learn something from this experience.
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Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:50 pm
Kiran finished cleaning every inch of the floor and sat back on his legs. Sighing, he wiped an arm across his forehead, cleaning away the sweat beading there. He glanced about the room and let out a groan. There was still plenty left to clean. Tossing the dirty rag down on the floor, Kiran climbed back to his feet. Jianyu was crazy if he really expected him to clean all of this.
A thought tickled at his brain. He walked over to the door and pressed his ear to the smooth wood and listened. Kiran didn't hear anyone right outside the room. He decided to chance it. He cracked the door open and peeked outside. Jianyu didn't appear anywhere in the vicinity. A smirk crossed Kiran's face. If Jianyu wasn't going to make sure that he stayed to do the work, Kiran saw no reason why he should.
Slipping out of the room, Kiran closed the door behind him. He strolled cautiously down the hallway, trying to look casual and not suspicious. The people at this place might have seen Jianyu drag Kiran inside, but none could have any real idea what Jianyu demanded he do. As soon as he made it out the front door, he would be home free.
Before he reached the waiting area up front, Kiran paused, something on the wall catching his eyes. His body turned toward the painting hanging on the wall. The image resembled a dragon, and while that wasn't something that held great interest for him, it was artfully done. Tattoos had never been something Kiran thought about for any great length of time. His mother would throw a fit if he ever considered getting one. He wasn't sure what his father would say. Maybe he would only give that disappointed look and leave the yelling to his mother. But like any form of art, if done well, it could attract the eye of anyone with its beauty.
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Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 11:18 am
Jianyu was reading a book when Kiran Tambe started his escape. He had suspected that the boy might try and leave, and so he had taken up a spot on the floor just outside of the entrance hall of the Tattoo House for that very reason. After quite a long while, he had realized that he was correct in his suspicions. He had seen the look his sister had given him, given that Chuntao had a good view of the hallway from where she was sitting and she knew perfectly well why Jianyu had brought Kiran here.
Closing the book, Jianyu stood, stretching his limbs before he walked back into the waiting area. The room was only half-filled, most of its quiet patrons sitting on the chairs provided waiting patiently, and his sister sat at a small wooden desk near the back. She nodded to him as he walked by, and Jianyu ducked into the back hallway. Kiran was standing there, his light eyes staring up at one of his father's paintings, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Jianyu leaned against one wall, folding his arms across his chest.
"Interested?" he asked.
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Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:55 pm
When making an escape, the escapee should never ever pause for any reason. Kiran, of course, knew this fact. But he couldn't help getting caught up looking at the beautifully painted designs displayed upon the wall. But he made the terrible mistake of letting himself spend way too much time examining the artful skill put into the designs.
He cringed, shoulders hunching up when he heard Jianyu's question. "Oh, hi," Kiran said awkwardly with a nervous little laugh. He backed away a step, hoping to keep the distance between them. What did Jianyu plan to do to him now? Kiran dreaded to think. What could be worse than being forced to clean that backroom?
Kiran knew he couldn't play dumb or act innocent. Jianyu wasn't going to fall for that, as he had proved earlier when Kiran tried that tactic. Trying to escape was looking more and more like it had been a very bad idea.
Sighing, he folded his arms. "All right. So let's get this over with," he said, seeing no other way around this. Getting past Jianyu now would be a challenge, especially with that heavy armor to block Kiran's attacks. "Going to drag me back to that room to finish cleaning it now?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 12:09 pm
He had certainly surprised Kiran. The boy had an expression of distaste mixed with a guilty one that children often got when they were found sticking their hand into the basket full of sweets before dinner had been prepared. Inwardly, Jianyu was slightly amused, as he had worn that same expression several times in the past, and had gotten in quite a lot of trouble for it.
Arching one dark eyebrow, Jianyu said lightly "Dragging you back to the room is one very definite possibility. After all, you did attempt to steal from me, and I do not appreciate that at all. Not to mention," he added, like it was an afterthought. "You also attempted to steal my money by coercing me into thinking that you admired me. That alone was quite unforgivable."
Jianyu's eyes wandered from the look of defiance on Kiran's face to the paintings that lined the walls of the hallway. His father's work was intricate and delicate, each stroke careful and planned. He was dedicated to his work, completely devoted. Jianyu stood up straight, his gaze locked with the boy's.
"Do not try to steal from me again." he said, and his voice was stern, low. Then he turned and walked down the hallway.
"You may go." was all he said before he disappeared back into the Tattoo House.
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Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 1:24 pm
Kiran waited anxiously under Jianyu's gaze. Whatever Jianyu had in mind, Kiran doubted he would enjoy it. Sometimes he thought waiting to hear what kind of punishment he would receive was worse than the actual punishment.
He blinked several time in surprise when Jianyu dismissed him. Kiran watched him go, and his mouth hung open. His brain seemed to stall to grinding halt. Did Jianyu just tell him to go? He thought his hearing might have been playing tricks on him. He never got out of punishment that easily.
But something else in what Jianyu said bother Kiran. He frowned at Jianyu's back. "That wasn't a complete lie," he grumbled in a huff. Whether or not Jianyu actually heard the comment, he couldn't be sure. He had been truly impressed with Jianyu's skill with the bow and arrow. It actually made him a little interested in the long ranged weapon. He wouldn't mind giving it a try, but he doubted Jianyu would care to give him a real lesson in archery after this.
Kiran turned and left the tattoo parlor, feeling disgruntled over the whole event.
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